Pained Art
by KaziRede
Summary: When 6 is injured, 5 tries his best to get the artist to get help from 2. But how does one keep a panicking artist from acting out?


Hahaha, so I guess it's time for me to give 6 some love. I'll give him love :D

But it was difficult to get 6 right in this fic. He's more complex than the rest of the characters. So yeah. Here goes.

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If there was one thing 5 could recognize, it was pain. He'd seen plenty of it ever since he woke up, and still plenty after the war ended. Hell, he even lived through extreme pain when losing his eye. Weather hidden or not, the little mechanic needed no effort to spot a tear or a break within the mechanisms that made up a rag doll's body. It was something 2 said 5 was blessed with: A keen eye for detail. He would always pick up on things the elder stitch-punk would miss, and easily fix them if experience allows it.

All his patients were different: 1, 2, and 8 hardly needed tending to, 3 and 4 only needed to be mended a couple of times, and 7 always seemed to come back from her adventures with a new tear to fix. But as for 6 ...

Well, lets say that's how this whole conversation started.

5 noticed something off about 6, something that wasn't his usual crazed, tortured self that 5 would always feel awkward around. This morning when he woke, he noticed that 6 seemed to be a little bit more moody than usual. His eyes were pained and cloudy, and once in a while, he would whimper out in pain. It was only later that 5 realized that 6's arm wasn't in its usual shape, rather from the elbow down, it seemed to have been bent out of it's socket, making it hard for the artist to use.

Several times, 5 tried to approach 6, both directly and indirectly. He first told 1 about it, who scoffed and shrugged it off as 6 wanting attention. After that attempt failed, he went to his mentor, 2, who had told him he would tend to the artist's needs with the tools in the workshop.

While this made 5 happy, there in lies the problem - how to bring the artists to the workshop.

After 2 had offered his help, 5 ventured out to get 6 to the workshop. But every attempt to drag the artist there failed, as all he wanted to do was sit in his secluded corner of the cathedral and draw with the hand that wasn't injured. He tried every approach to bring the little rag-doll out of this corner and into the workshop - gentle words and coaxing to literally grabbing him by the shoulder - and none of those attempts worked. This frustrated him easily, to the point that all 5 could do now was lay his forehead in his palm.

"Look ... 6 ..." The mechanic sighed, talking to the back of the artist, "You need help. Your arm is broken and will remain broken unless 2 and I fix it, okay?"

"Not broken." 6 mutter, concentrating on his current circular drawing, "It's okay ..."

"6. don't even try to say that, I can see it with my own eye." 5 commented, tapping his foot, "You can't even use that arm."

As if to prove him wrong, 6 brought his broken arm up to the piece of paper, wincing as he tried his hardest just to draw a single, short squiggle. 6 moved aside promptly after to show 5 this line, pointing to it with the opposite arm, looking from the mechanic to the drawing frantically. "Not broken." 6 repeated, trying to smile through the pain, "I can still draw ..."

5 crossed his arms, still not convinced. This boy was really starting to drive 5 to the edge as he gave him a glare - something he hardly ever did. sighing once more, 5 approached 6, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You can still draw, but it pains you to do so." 5 stated, trying to lead the artist away from his drawing, "Just come with me, 6, 2 will fix you right up and you can draw pain-free again."

"Don't want to." 6 muttered, shrugging 5's hand off by shaking his shoulder, "More pain will come."

"Yes, but after that pain, it will be gone." 5 replied, looking at 6's pained optics, "Would you rather live in pain for the rest of your life or face a lot of pain right now so you won't have pain later?"

This seemed to have penetrated 6's mind, as he momentarily stopped to think about what 5 said. After a moment or two, the artist finally got to his feet, tucking a blank sheet of paper under his arm, and faced 5, his uneven optics blinking at him. "No more pain?" He asked, blinking.

"No more pain." He reassured, "Not after this, I promise."

--

"Well, well ..." 2 muttered, examining the artist's arm with his eyeglass slipped in front of his face, "You really gotten yourself in a bundle, 6. Bent the joint right out of it's socket you did."

5 and 6 finally arrived at the elder's workshop, whereupon 6 immediately sat on the lone roller skate used as a makeshift bed, drawing with his uninjured arm on the paper placed beside him. 5 assumed this may have been a way to relax the tortured soul, as he saw him wince while 2 examined his arm, his face twisted in pain.

"My, my. I've rarely seen this injury happen." 2 stated, slipping the eyeglass off from his face. "I say, what did you do to make this happen?"

"Fell." 6 answered, never drawing his eyes away from his work of art, "From a really high place. I tripped and fell for a long time."

"I see ..." 2 said, turning away for a moment to grab a pair of scissors from the wall, "Lucky you for only obtaining an injury like that, it could have been a lot worse."

It really could have been, 5 thought to himself as he sighed, looking at the injured stitch-punk. He could have sustained a worse injury than a simple broken arm - his leg could have been rendered useless or he could have broken his back support - or even worse ...

"5, will you would 6's shoulders for a moment ...?" 2 asked, driving 5's thoughts away, "I will need to make an incision in order to fix his arm."

5 nodded and firmly grasped 6's shoulders, 6 looking at the mechanic with wide, confused optics. 5 merely smiled, patting him on the shoulder and nodding his head towards the picture.

"Keep drawing." 5 demanded, "Don't worry."

6 did as he was told and continued to draw his twisted art, 2 taking the time to cut the artist's striped skin with the scissors. 5 felt 6 tense, but he did not try to squirm out of his grasp - rather, all his attention was on the drawing he was currently working on, 5 glanced back at 2, who had made a clean cut on 6's arm, making the injury visible to 5. As suspected, the joint was knocked right out of the socket, something easily fixed that would still bring a lot of pain. 5 looked back at 6, who at this point, had stopped drawing.

"6, you really should keep drawing ..."

"I'm done." 6 stated, pointing to a blank sheet of paper on the opposite desk. "I need another."

Without a second command, 5 rushed over and grabbed the sheet of paper, giving it to the artist who neatly laid it on the roller skate, attempting to draw again. 5 then again grabbed the artists shoulders and nodded to 2, signaling that he was ready.

2 steadied himself and started the long and painful process of fixing the stitch-punk's arm.

And oh how did the artist react. 6's smooth lines suddenly became jagged at the process began, his fingers waving wildly everywhere, creating ripples and points everywhere on the paper. Once or twice, the artist's fingers even pierced the paper, his inked fingers going right though. 6 finally let out a yelp of pain, grabbing the mechanic's arm with his uninjured shoulder.

"It hurts ..." 6 said frantically, blinking wildly with his uneven optics, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts it hurts ithurtsithurtsithurts ..."

5 gripped the artist's shoulders firmly, staring at him with the most confident look he could wear. "It won't after this, I promise 6. Go back to your drawing, it's not finished yet, is it?"

6 shook his head and laid his fingers back down on the paper, his arm shaking with pain. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to the two, 2 finally snapped the joint in place, a look of pain followed by relief crossing over the artist's face.

"Does it ..." 5 swallowed, looking at the picture and seeing 6 drawing smoothly again, "Does it still hurt?"

"A little." 6 said softly.

"Can you ... use it?"

6 lifted his arm, wiggling his inked fingers, then started to draw with his other arm, his lines graceful and smooth like it's opposite arm.

"Yes ..."

5 sighed in relief and released the artist's shoulders finally, seeing 2 going to work immediately on sewing the boys arm up again. 5 looked to 2 and smiled, walking away from 6 and towards his mentor.

"Thanks for the help, 2." 5 said, glancing towards 6, "Sorry it took a long time to get him here though, he was a bit reluctant."

"Don't worry about it, my boy." 2 responded, smiling at the mechanic, "You did wonderfully there, using this boy's artistic talent as a way for him to relax."

"That was more his idea than mine." 5 stated, chuckling, "I just told him to keep doing it."

"Still, you were a big help, 5." 2 smiled, heading towards 6 and studying his drawing, "I'm sorry I had to put you through so much pain though."

6 smiled at the two and hopped off the roller skate, the piece of paper he was drawing on clutched in his hands. He offered the paper to the two, smiling. "Here." He mumbled, shoving the paper in 5's hand, "As thanks."

When 5 took it, 6 promptly trotted away, leaving 2 and 5 there confused. After he was out of sight, 2 chuckled and looked at the piece of paper, the jagged and smooth lines contrasting with one another. "This truly is something here." 2 stated, studying it, "Pain and relaxation in one picture. How unique."

"You can say that again." 5 stated, smiling, "I'm just glad he'll be okay though."

"With a responsible man like you around," 2 stated, patting 5's shoulder, "everyone will be okay."

* * *

WEEEHEHEHEEHEHEHE PAIN :D


End file.
